Hey, R.N., E. Baker, D. Bohnenstiehl, G. Massoth, M
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Article Geochemistry 3 Volume 5, Number 12 Geophysics 15 December 2004 Q12007, doi:10.1029/2004GC000764 GeosystemsG G ISSN: 1525-2027 AN ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF THE EARTH SCIENCES Published by AGU and the Geochemical Society Tectonic//volcanic segmentation and controls on hydrothermal venting along Earth’s fastest seafloor spreading system, EPR 27°–32°S Richard Hey School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii, 2525 Correa Road, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA ([email protected]) Edward Baker NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, Washington 98115-0070, USA DelWayne Bohnenstiehl Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, 61 Route 9W, Palisades, New York 10964, USA Gary Massoth Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, Ltd., 30 Gracefield Road, P.O. Box 31-312, Lower Hutt, New Zealand Martin Kleinrock Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Inc., 1201 New York Ave, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20005, USA Fernando Martinez School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii, 2525 Correa Road, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA David Naar College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, 140 Seventh Avenue South, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701- 5016, USA Debra Pardee School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii, 2525 Correa Road, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA Now at URS Corporation, 615 Piikoi Street, Suite 900, Honolulu, Hawaii 96814, USA John Lupton NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, 2115 SE OSU Drive, Newport, Oregon 97365, USA Richard Feely NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, Washington 98115-0070, USA Jim Gharib School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii, 2525 Correa Road, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA Joe Resing NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, Washington 98115-0070, USA Also at Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and the Ocean, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union 1 of 32 Geochemistry 3 hey et al.: segmentation along the epr Geophysics 10.1029/2004GC000764 Geosystems G Cristian Rodrigo Servicio Hidrografico y Oceanografico de la Armada de Chile, Errazuriz 232 Playa Ancha, Valparaiso, Chile Francis Sansone School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii, 2525 Correa Road, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA Sharon Walker NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, Washington 98115-0070, USA [1] We have collected 12 kHz SeaBeam bathymetry and 120 kHz DSL-120 side-scan sonar and bathymetry data to determine the tectonic and volcanic segmentation along the fastest spreading (150 km/Myr) part of the global mid-ocean ridge system, the southern East Pacific Rise between the Easter and Juan Fernandez microplates. This area is presently reorganizing by large-scale dueling rift propagation and possible protomicroplate tectonics. Fracture patterns observed in the side-scan data define structural segmentation scales along these ridge segments. These sometimes, but not always, correlate with linear volcanic systems defining segmentation in the SeaBeam data. Some of the subsegments behave cohesively, with in-phase tectonic activity, while fundamental discontinuities occur between other subsegments. We also collected hydrothermal plume data using sensors mounted on the DSL-120 instrument package, as well as CTDO tow-yos, to determine detailed structural and volcanic controls on the hydrothermal vent pattern observed along 600 km of the Pacific-Nazca axis. Here we report the first rigorous correlation between coregistered hydrothermal plume and high-resolution marine geophysical data on similar scales and over multisegment distances. Major plume concentrations were usually found where axial inflation was relatively high and fracture density was relatively low. These correlations suggest that hydrothermal venting is most active where the apparent magmatic budget is greatest, resulting in recent eruptions that have paved over the neovolcanic zone. Areas of voluminous acoustically dark young lava flows produced from recent fissure eruptions correlate with many of the major hydrothermal vent areas. Increased crustal permeability, as gauged by increased fracture density, does not enhance hydrothermal venting in this area. Axial summit troughs and graben are rare, probably because of frequent volcanic resurfacing in this superfast spreading environment, and are not good predictors of hydrothermal activity here. Many of the hydrothermal areas are found in inflated areas near the ends of segments, suggesting that abundant magma is being supplied to these areas. Components: 15,313 words, 12 figures, 1 table. Keywords: seafloor spreading; mid-ocean ridges; hydrothermal plumes. Index Terms: 3035 Marine Geology and Geophysics: Midocean ridge processes; 3045 Marine Geology and Geophysics: Seafloor morphology and bottom photography; 3094 Marine Geology and Geophysics: Instruments and techniques; 4832 Oceanography: Biological and Chemical: Hydrothermal systems; 8150 Tectonophysics: Plate boundary—general (3040) Received 25 May 2004; Revised 3 September 2004; Accepted 21 October 2004; Published 15 December 2004. Hey, R., et al. (2004), Tectonic/volcanic segmentation and controls on hydrothermal venting along Earth’s fastest seafloor spreading system, EPR 27°–32°S, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 5, Q12007, doi:10.1029/2004GC000764. 1. Introduction [e.g., DeMets et al., 1990, 1994]. Here we describe the tectonic and volcanic segmentation [2] Earth’s fastest present-day seafloor spread- along the fastest spreading part of this ridge, ing, as measured by magnetic anomalies, and discuss detailed structural and volcanic occurs along the southern East Pacific Rise controls on the hydrothermal vent pattern ob- (EPR), along the Pacific-Nazca plate boundary served along 600 km of the southern EPR 2of32 Geochemistry 3 hey et al.: segmentation along the epr Geophysics 10.1029/2004GC000764 Geosystems G nates, with even the intratransform spreading center patterns predictable from known changes in plate motion [Searle, 1983; Fox and Gallo, 1984; Lonsdale, 1989]. In contrast, the entire part of the Pacific-Nazca boundary spreading faster than 142 km/Myr is reorganizing by propagating rift and microplate tectonics [Naar and Hey, 1989a]. At these faster spreading rates, detailed swath mapping has shown there are no transform faults, but rather various nontransform offsets, including he 21°S dueling propagators [Macdonald et al., 1988a], the Easter and Juan Fernandez micro- plates [Hey et al., 1985; Searle et al., 1989; Naar and Hey, 1991; Larson et al., 1992; Rusby and Searle, 1995; Bird et al., 1998] and the giant dueling propagators between these microplates [Hey et al., 1995; Korenaga and Hey, 1996]. Transform faults do not occur again (other than transient ones on the slower spreading microplate boundaries) until the spreading rate drops at the triple junction south of the Juan Fernandez micro- plate (Figure 1). [4] The spreading rates in Figure 1 [from Hey et al., 1995] were calculated using the revised astronomically calibrated magnetic timescale [Shackleton et al., 1990; Hilgen, 1991] to modify the Naar and Hey [1989b] Pacific-Nazca Brunhes pole. This pole was constrained by EPR magnetic anomaly data collected too late for the NUVEL-1 compilation, and so, although similar, is an im- provement to the best-fitting PAC-NAZ pole from NUVEL-1 [DeMets et al., 1990]. NUVEL-1A [DeMets et al., 1994] also uses the revised time- scale, but is a global plate motion model, contam- inated by errors elsewhere, that predicts faster spreading than observed along the Pacific-Nazca boundary. In addition to fitting the new data better along the fastest part of this ridge, the Hey et al. [1995] pole (48.1°N, 90.5°W, 1.35°/Myr) also Figure 1. Location map and spreading rates from Hey provides a better fit to the 18°–19°S EPR data than et al. [1995]. Light lines are mid-ocean ridges; those the NUVEL models [Cormier and Macdonald, with arrows are propagating. Heavy straight lines are 1994, Figure 13]. Thus the spreading rates shown transform faults. Box surrounds axes surveyed. in Figure 1 are the most accurate currently avail- able for this region, and a fundamental change in plate boundary behavior occurs between spread- (Baker et al. [2002] and new results reported ing (whole) rates of 136 and 142 km/Myr, which here). we use to define a distinction between fast and ‘‘superfast’’ spreading behavior. We prefer this [3] Figure 1 shows that a qualitative change in terminology to that including slower spreading EPR plate boundary geometry occurs somewhere areassuchasthe17°SMELTarea(140 km between the Garrett transform fault at 13°S and Myr) in an ‘‘ultrafast’’ spreading category, espe- the dueling propagators near 21°S. Between the cially as Wilson [1996] has shown there were faster Garrett and the Pacific-Nazca-Cocos triple junc- spreading rates in the Miocene on the Pacific- tion the usual ridge/transform geometry domi- Cocos ridge. 3of32 Geochemistry 3 hey et al.: segmentation along the epr Geophysics 10.1029/2004GC000764 Geosystems G [5] Here we document both large-scale and finer- high side-scan backscatter, and dark/black areas are scale segmentation patterns along this fastest low backscatter or acoustic shadows). Due to the spreading ridge based on new SeaBeam and subjectivity associated with defining the center